Breaking Curses
by Luddles
Summary: A girl with a strange curse that can never be broken. That is, until two strange men appear in her town. Will one of them steal her heart? FaixOC Guess what, I have Fai paired with a FEMALE OC! GASP! FINAL CHAPTER IS UP!
1. Chapter 1: The Clumsy One

**I don't own Tsubasa**

**Breaking Curses**

**Chapter One**

**The Clumsy One**

My name is Kaida Raidon Agate, and I am not as interesting as my name sounds. I've always been a normal girl who lived in a normal house in the lakeside town Nami. I had one problem in my life. My sister. Her name was Miki Aiko Agate, as beautiful and beloved as her name described. Everyone preferred Miki over me, saying she was prettier and more delicate than I. It was not small wonder they said such things.

Miki was nineteen, a year older than me, and she was gorgeous. She was tall, thin, with long chestnut hair that fell to her waist in perfect curls. Her eyes were a deep, pure green, and she was always smiling. Everything seemed perfect about her. Not once had she ever fallen in front of people. 'Nervous' was not in her vocabulary, unless she was describing me. She had a multitude of friends, and one more thing of which I was envious: the perfect man.

His name was Haruki, and Miki was not the only one who thought he was perfect. Haruki worked in the shipyard, and he was always atop the rigging of one ship or another. Haruki was the typical tall, dark, and handsome man. He had deep brown hair and gray eyes, was always tan from the sun, and reportedly the most romantic of any boy to have even lived in the town. Perhaps if Miki married him, she would leave and go to another town, never to bother me with her perfection again.

Every other girl in the town imagined themselves in Haruki's arms when he had first come to the town three years ago, but Miki was the only girl he had dated while he was here. They were the same age, and when they looked at each other, I knew that my sister had one thing I did not. She had someone who loved her.

My sweet mother always told me to be strong and to be myself before she died. She didn't want me to try to be just like Miki, and I knew I would never achieve that. All I wanted was to be liked as she was. My friends were few and as unpopular as I, and everywhere I went it was by Miki I was recognized. They all knew somehow that I was Miki's younger sister. Did she really talk about me that much? I didn't know how they guessed that, seeing how I in no way resembled my elder sister.

I was thin like she was, but I was taller and had always been taller. My hair was shorter and brown, whereas Miki's was long, curly, and red. My eyes were a paler green, without the intensity that Miki's held. But I did not have her way of holding herself, her smile, her grace. I was clumsy, with a crooked grin, and always tripped over my own feet, lest I held a sword in my hand. The only thing I was good at was swordplay, but women were not allowed to practice that art.

It was in secret that I made my way to a secret clearing deep in the forest that surrounded our village to practice my sword skills. The only person I allowed to come with me was Keyne. She was my best friend, a short, athletic-girl with dirty blond hair as short as a boy's and freckles across her face. We were in the clearing the day my life changed forever.

**Kaida means "Little Dragon" and Raidon means "Thunder". Miki means "Beautiful" and Aiko means "Little Loved One". That's what Kaida is talking about in the beginning. **

**To talk about Kaida's world a little, it's a fairly modern place, but the only weapons used are swords. That's why Kaida swordfights.**


	2. Chapter 2: Depths of Water

**Chapter Two**

**Depths of Water**

"Kaida, you had better get down from that tree, or you'll fall in the pond!" shouted Keyne, as she looked at me. I was trying to reach a new height on our favorite climbing tree, and had just secured my arm over the branch and was attempting to scramble up. I released my leg's hold on a lower branch and ended up swinging back and forth on the springy branch.

"Keyne! How do I get down from here!?" I squealed, having gotten stuck again. Keyne had already climbed to the height that I had reached and gotten back down successfully, and so I tried it. I wasn't quite sure how she had gotten down, however. Suddenly, the forest shook, and Keyne gasped. The branch I was holding onto snapped without warning, and I wasn't sure how far I fell before I landed in the pond below.

The water surrounded me like a tight veil, closing in around every side of me. I couldn't breathe (duh) and was sinking fast. A splash of bubbles appeared in front of my face, and I remembered no more until I woke up.

I opened my eyes to a blinding light, and my first guess was that Keyne had rescued me. That is, until I found myself looking into blue eyes that did not belong to Keyne. A tall man was leaning over me, saying something, and smiling. His smile was the most beautiful thing about him. It reminded me of Miki's, only softer and even more wonderful. The man was completely soaked with the pond water, his blond hair dripping, and the water reflecting in the sun. His white shirt was totally wet also, but he was smiling regardless. I wasn't sure who he was, but this was definitely an ideal thing to wake up to.

My heart skipped a beat and then began to race at the sight of the man. Something moved on my shoulder, and I realized that it was hand. I was still in the clearing and lying on his lap, a situation that was utterly mortifying me. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice soft and light like the sunshine that was filtering through the trees and reflecting in the crystal drops of water that clung to his skin.

"I'm fine," I whispered, and his smile widened.

"Kaida! I thought you were seriously hurt! It was like you forgot to swim!" Keyne's worried shouts echoed around the clearing, and she knelt next to me. I sat up quickly and stared at her, as the other man stood and took a few steps back to let us converse.

"Who in the world is that guy?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"I don't know," said Keyne, "but he jumped out of the forest and into the pond after you! You're so lucky, Kaida! He's even cuter than Haruki!"

"How long was I out?" I said in a louder voice, because I was no longer talking about the mysterious man.

"About five minutes," said Keyne, and then added in a quieter voice, "And he held you the whole time." I gasped, feeling me cheeks turn pink. It was the most embarrassing of situations, an eighteen-year-old girl falling out of a tree and forgetting how to swim, but being rescued by that man somehow made it better.

Then came the crashing of more people from the forest, and a black-haired man burst out of it, shouting at the top of his lungs. "FAI! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" The blond man turned, and looked at the other man without any sign of surprise.

"None of your concern, Kuroku," he said smoothly, and then looked back at me. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" he asked. I nodded. Keyne smacked me in the arm as if to say 'at least figure out who the cute one is!'

"Um, who are you?" I asked nervously. He knelt in front of me and took my hand, still staring at me with his intense blue eyes.

"I'm Fai D. Fluorite. And you," he said, "are beautiful." He kissed my hand, never taking his eyes off me, and I turned even redder. The other man sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, Fai. Quit flirting and let's see if we can find this magician we're looking for," he snapped. Fai closed his eyes for a minute and sighed. He looked at me again, and I could feel myself freeze under his gaze.

"You wouldn't happen to know if there are any magicians in this world who would be willing to let us stay with them?" he asked. He looked at Keyne also, "If either of you know, it would be a great help to us. We were told there would be two sisters who would oblige, but we're not sure where to find them."

"Let me get this straight," said Keyne, "You're just looking for these two sisters?"

"Yes," said the other man. "We're stuck in this world for awhile, and we were looking for a place to stay. So the townspeople told us to look for two sisters who live in a big mansion near the lake." Keyne looked at me and raised her eyebrows. Miki and I were obviously the sisters he was talking about. We were wizards, lived in a large mansion inherited from our rich grandmother, and we often let travelers stay with us when they were looking for somewhere, because our town had no inn.

"That would be my sister and I," I said. Fai, Keyne, and I stood, and the other man looked at me disbelievingly.

"Well then, I suppose we'd better go back to your house. I mean, if we can," said Fai. I nodded, and he turned to the black-haired man. "Right Kurgy?" The other man frowned.

"It's Kurogane, and you know that. So stop calling me all these stupid nicknames," he said. I gathered from their short conversation that the other man was named Kurogane, and got particularly angered when anyone made up a name that was a variation of that. Fai told us that they were travelers from another dimension, and planned on returning there eventually, but other than that, we were silent. My heart pounded faster than my footsteps, and I wondered why I was so surprised that Fai had saved my life.

I glanced at him, and he smiled back. I looked away instantly, nervousness overtaking me once more. On the way back, someone stepped in front of me. It was Miki, and she was looking at me with an odd expression.

"Why are you so wet?" she demanded to know. "And who are those men?"

"I'm wet because I fell in the pond, and these men are my rescuer and his companion," I said dully, and her eyes narrowed in anger.

"Again!? Stop being such a klutz, Kaida! I was just about to come looking for you, anyway…"

We explained to Miki that Kurogane and Fai were looking for a place to stay, and she agreed to let them stay with us. Miki made all the decisions around our house, and I was glad that she had decided to let Fai and Kurogane stay with us. Normally she wouldn't do such a thing, (mostly because she didn't seem to approve of strange young men who were travelers from other dimensions) but it was her practice to allow people room if they had no other place to go. This was because there was no inn in town, and we were obliged to do so. It wasn't her choice that she was so kind to them, but the law's policy. Miki did everything according to the rules. I defied them.

**Honestly, to think about what Kaida's feeling like, imagine waking up to Fai looking like he does on the cover page of chapter 112. This is the picture I used for the description of him for this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Curse Revealed

**Chapter Three**

**The Curse Revealed**

In a few minutes, we returned to my place of residence, a large lakeside house that rested a little bit off the shore. I opened the door to let our guests into the house. It was notoriously tidy, because Miki was (in addition to being everything else she was) a clean freak. If there happened to be a single stray item of mine left lying around the house, she threw it away or put it away somewhere that I would never find it. Don't get me wrong, I'm fairly neat myself, but not insane about it like Miki is.

She used to be even worse with the whole cleaning thing when Haruki first got here. She was trying to impress him and wanted everything to be absolutely perfect whenever he came over. Miki was always wearing her nicest clothes around him with her hair done in a style that had taken her four hours to get right. I was thankful that nowadays she was comfortable sitting around on the couch in sweatpants with him, and didn't mind if I was in the house at the same time as them.

Kurogane and Fai looked around the house in amazement, obviously wondering how we kept it so clean. It was abnormal, the state of organization in this house. I rolled my eyes at Miki, and then began to walk toward my room, the only place that she did not clean all the time. My room wasn't necessarily messy; it just wasn't as clean as the rest of the place. I opened the door to my room and let Kurogane and Fai walk in behind me.

Spell books, sketchbooks, and all sorts of other random paper were all over my room. I loved anything written or drawn, and that was the absolute only clutter in the room. My bed was made sloppily, and the blue and white blankets were in complete disarray. I tried to move some of the books and papers, but Fai and Kurogane didn't seem to care.

"So, are you a magician?" asked Fai.

"Yes, I am," I replied quickly, not wanting to explain everything to him, including my curse.

"Me too," he said.

"Yeah, he's a wizard and all. Spells and not aging and stuff," Kurogane said.

"Not aging?" I asked curiously. Could it even be possible? If Fai didn't age, it meant something tremendous to me, even though it just seemed like something abnormal to everyone else who looked upon it.

"Yes, as Kuro-puppy so said, I don't age. It's odd, I know, so don't worry about saying it," he said.

"I don't age," I explained flatly. "It's a curse. Or at least, they all say I won't age. I'm only eighteen, so I wouldn't know."

"Heh, you're lucky to know that at such a young age," Fai snickered. "I don't even remember being eighteen."

"It's kind of interesting, not aging," Kurogane said.

"No it's not!" Fai protested, shaking his head. "All it does is scare off girls so I never get a date!"

"Unless the girls don't age either," Kurogane said. He shot a glance at me, then at Fai, and left the room. My heart skipped a beat as he said that, and when I next looked at Fai, he was blushing a little. He sat down on my bed in a spot where there were no books and beckoned for me to sit next to him.

"Don't mind Kurgy, he just misses his princess," Fai laughed.

"Princess?" I asked. Fai nodded.

"Never tell him I said this, but… Kuro-wan-wan has a certain fondness for the princess of his country," Fai said.

"Lucky princess. I don't have anyone who has any 'fondness' for me," I said. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, his ever-present smile widening.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," he said quietly. Then he stood and left the room, leaving me dazed in his wake.

**Kurgy does miss his princess. That would be Tomoyo, by the way. She'll show up in here eventually. But not really her. **


	4. Chapter 4: Crush

**Chapter Four**

**Crush**

**This chapter is in Fai's point of view! Which means we get an insight on his feelings about Kaida! Squee!**

I returned to the room where Kurogane and I were staying and fell onto my bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. My face was flushed and my heart was pounding faster than it was probably meant to. What was wrong with me? I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow, trying to muffle all the thoughts exploding inside my head.

"What are you doing, Fai?" I asked myself. "You absolutely cannot get involved with a girl right now, not matter how cute… ARGH!" I shouted.

"Something wrong?" Kurogane asked as he walked into the room. I sat up, put on a fake smile, and shook my head.

"Nope! Nothing!" I replied happily. Maybe a little too happily. Kurogane rolled his eyes.

"Like heck nothing's wrong," he said, and then swore quietly. I turned away from him, still thinking like crazy. I thought I liked Kaida… more than I ever liked any other girl. It was so weird, to feel this way. I thought she was absolutely beautiful. But it wasn't like I was going to say that. It was making me nervous and worried all over. If only my heart would stop thumping.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and leaned my forehead on them, my mop of blond hair falling to brush gently against my cheeks, which still felt like they were on fire. "Okay, something's wrong," I admitted.

"I knew that," Kurogane said.

"Then why did you ask?" I asked, looking up at him. He shrugged and sat down on his own bed, leaning his elbows on his thighs and surveying my befuddled expression with those perceptive red eyes.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "It's like… I'm getting all freaked out lately. My heart starts thumping and my stomach knots up, and I don't know why."

"Has this got anything to do with Kaida?" he asked.

I chuckled nervously, which Kurogane took as a 'yes'. He laughed too, and sighed heavily. He stood, and walked past me, rubbing the top of my head as he went.

"Boy, are you in for it," he said.

"How come?" I asked.

Kurogane turned around as he got to the door, leaning one massive palm against the doorframe. "Because, what you just described is a crush," he said. I watched him go, hoping that he didn't know as much about this whole 'crush' thing as he said he did. But something in the back of my head told me that he probably did.

"A crush, huh?" I said, looking at myself in the mirror. My face wasn't quite so red anymore. But then Kaida appeared in the mirror behind me, and I turned as red as Kuro-puppy's eyes again.

"Settling in alright?" she asked cheerfully.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," I said, turning around to face her. She smiled.

"I'm glad," she said, and my stomach flipped over again. I sincerely wished it would stop doing that. "Well, see you later," said Kaida, and she turned, waving at me as she left. Why was she so cute?

"Yep. It's a definite. I've got a crush on her," I said to myself, and ran my fingers through my hair. "Hyuu."

**Aww, so cute! Yay Fai! He's saying 'hyuu' at the end instead of whistling, by the way. The next chapter will probably also be from Fai's point of view, but beware: they're going to the beach! Which means SWIMSUITS! **

**Fai: Asuka, you just want to see Kuro-puu in a swimsuit.**

**Asuka: Ehehe… um… That's all the time we have for today! Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5: Beaches and Excuses

**Chapter Five**

**Beaches and Excuses**

**(And it gets worse. For Fai, that is. Beach scenes=swimsuits. Kaida + swimsuit=Fai freaking out. Get the picture? By the way, it will switch to Kaida's point of view halfway through this chapter.)**

"Hey, Fai!" Kaida shouted as she knocked on the door to my room. I jumped up at the all-too-familiar sound of her voice.

"Yeah? What? Huh?" I asked, very quickly, opening the door so fast that it just barely missed colliding with my forehead.

"Um… just wanted to let you know… we're going to the beach today!" she said brightly. "I was wondering if you and Kurogane wanted to come with us."

"Sure thing!" I replied, equally excited. I brushed my long, pale fingers through my shaggy blond hair and gave her my most dazzling smile. She grinned in return, a very small smile, and blushed, turning to leave soon after. It was going to be a good day.

"Still trying to win her over?" Kurogane asked as he emerged from the bathroom.

"Of course!" I laughed, and went to change into my swimsuit. "Did you hear her asking about the beach?" I asked Kurogane, from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Are you coming?"

"Sure. Don't come out of there, I'm going to change, too," he said.

"Right, right," I said, and looked at my reflection in the mirror for a minute. For once in my life, I did not feel like the mirror was going to break when my eyes met with it. I wasn't the sad, lonely man I had been when I had gotten there. Something had changed me. _She_ had changed me.

"Hurry up, mage, or I'm going to leave you here!" Kurogane shouted at me. I threw open the door and ran out, hugging him around the shoulders in the process.

"Okay, I'm ready!" I announced.

"Let go before you strangle me!" he yelled, trying to tear my arms from around his neck. I obliged, and left the room ahead of him, skipping as I went.

Fortunately, the back door of Kaida and Miki's house led straight out to the beach. Kaida's friend, the one who had been by the pond on the first day I had met them, was sitting under an enormous pink umbrella, the handle of which was stuck into the sand. She stood. I didn't even know the girl's name, but she was nice enough. She was very short, and her hair was cropped even shorter than my own. Freckles covered her nose and cheeks. She was wearing a one-piece swimsuit, much like the type that school swim teams wear. As a matter of fact, I had the feeling that it was from her school swim team.

"Hey!" she called.

"Hello," I said cheerily.

"You're one of the guys living with Kaida and Miki, right?" she asked, staring at me. Her eyes fluttered over to Kurogane, and then back to me.

"That's right," I replied.

"I'm Keyne," she introduced herself, with a nod of her head. Then, she turned. "That's Miki's umbrella, if you want to put your shirts or something under it," she explained. Miki did seem like the type of girl who would have a bright pink umbrella, to tell the truth. Kurogane pulled his shirt off over his head and tossed it under the umbrella, and I did the same.

"Keyne! Keyne!" called Kaida's voice from behind us. I didn't turn around, a little preoccupied with finding out what Kurogane was looking at. His expression was one of complete shock. So I wanted to know what could make him stare like that.

"Keyne!" Kaida shouted again. "Are your eyes GLUED to Kurogane, or something?" she asked. I turned around, wanting to see this. But I barely noticed Keyne. I turned bright red when I saw Kaida… in a swimsuit.

"Oh, hey Kaida," Keyne said, acknowledging her friend calmly. "Is that your new swimsuit?"

"Yeah, Miki finally convinced me to buy a bikini," Kaida sighed, and sat down next to Keyne. "Personally, I don't think it looks that good."

"That's your opinion," I muttered, but she heard.

"Oh? What's yours?" she asked.

"I… think it looks…" I said, searching for an adjective, "…cute."

(Kaida's POV now!)

Was my imagination playing tricks on me again, or had the handsomest man I had ever laid eye on just called me 'cute'? I just stared at him, probably looking like a shell-shocked seagull or something. Keyne went back to staring at Kurogane, who, as a matter of fact, was staring at something else, but I wasn't sure what. Who had started the beach-wide staring contest?

Not that I could blame Keyne. Sure, Kurogane was tan, muscular, and _hot_, but I certainly wanted to know where all those scars on his back had come from. Not like I was asking. I was still too nervous about whatever the heck Fai had said.

"Um… Really?" I asked. He grinned, that beautiful smile crossing his features again.

"Of course!" he said happily. "Now, I think I'd better go see what's wrong with Kuro-puu now."

He stood, smoothly, as though he was made of liquid, and strode over to Kurogane, saying something, and then running away, because the bad-tempered Kurogane had given him an angry glare. "Eek!" Fai shouted. "Kuro-puu has turned his stare of death on me!"

I laughed at his antics, which only made his smile wider. He sat down next to me and casually draped one of his lanky arms around my shoulders. "So, how are you today, Kaida?" he asked.

"Just fine, thank you," I said quietly.

"Good," he said, and looked me in the eyes for one very long second. He stroked my cheek with one long finger. His touch was cool and refreshing, like a breeze on a hot day. Then he took his arm off my shoulders and lay down backward, sighing happily. "Ah, if only every day could be like this," he said quietly.

"Yeah. That would be great," I said. I drew my knees in to my chest and wrapped both my hands around them.

"I think I'm going to go swimming soon," he said. "Kuro-puu is far too dry."

I laughed, and he sat up, about to leave. "By the way," he said, "that swimsuit really does look cute on you." He kissed my nose gently, and then winked and walked away. My heart skipped a beat, and then started to pound faster than usual.

"What is going on?" I asked myself.

"He's flirting with you." Miki's voice answered my rhetorical question. I turned, and blushed at the idea of a man actually flirting with me.

"No way! He's not!" I protested. Miki raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"If that's not flirting, I don't know what is," she said. "Besides, why else would he kiss you?"

"Eh… maybe… well…" I trailed off. I could think of no more excuses.

**HA! Beach-wide staring contest indeed! Keyne started it though, with her staring at Kurogane. I would have stared at him, too. Kurogane shirtless…whoa. But, just what exactly is **_**Kurogane**_** staring at? Stay tuned to find out!**


	6. Chapter 6: Only Another Parallel

**Chapter Six**

**Only Another Parallel**

**Kuro's POV. The plot thickens! The answer to his staring-ness, Tomoyo returns, and a LOVE TRIANGLE!?**

I should have smacked myself for staring at her like that. Like what, you ask? Like… well… _that_. The way that a protector of a princess should never, ever stare at her. Especially not while thinking certain thoughts about her that most men should not technically think about women they were not married to. But did I? No, I was frozen stiff. The fact is I saw Tomoyo at that beach. And the important part of that: she was wearing a swimsuit. And not the most modest of swimsuits.

I blushed bright red and looked away from her, but I couldn't help glancing back every other second. Should I talk to her? What if she was the real Tomoyo? What if she wasn't just another parallel?

Something cold hit me in the head and I looked up. Fai was standing there, his arm extended, and holding a water bottle. He was pouring the contents, which looked more like seawater than anything, on my head. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR, IDIOT!?" I shouted at him. He held up his hands in defeat.

"Hey, don't blame me!" he said, laughing a little out of nervousness.

"Yeah, you were the one who poured that stuff on my head!" I continued.

"You looked distracted!" he protested. "What's up?" he asked, sitting in the sand next to me. I looked away from him, not wanting my eyes to give anything away. And then I saw her again.

Tomoyo was playing in the water a ways off, her childishness taking the better of her as usual. I smiled when I saw her, a rare expression. "Kuro… Earth to Kuro…" Fai was saying. He waved a hand in front of my face to get my attention, and I looked back at him.

"What?" I asked.

"Just wanted to know if you were in there," he replied, laughing. Then he stood and left, leaving me to watch as Tomoyo walked away from the beach, clinging to some other guy's arm. It really was just another parallel.

Later that evening, I was alone in my room, laying on my bed and thinking about Tomoyo. I missed her so much. I growled under my breath and stared at the ceiling in anger. Then I got up, to find Fai. Even though he was having some difficulty with that crush on Kaida and all, he had still had more relationships than I, and could probably fix this more easily than I could.

When I couldn't find him in the living room or the kitchen, I decided to check Kaida's room. Maybe he was talking to her or something. Or maybe she knew where he was. I knocked on the door. "Come in," said Kaida's voice from inside. I opened the door. No luck. Fai was not in there. Kaida was sitting on her bed when I entered. She smiled when she saw me. "Hey, Kurogane!" she chirped.

"Hey," I said darkly. She stood and looked up into my eyes worriedly.

"Are you alright?" she asked. I was taken aback by the question.

"Um, fine, I guess," I lied. She put her hands on her hips in frustration.

"No you're not, I can tell!" she snapped. "You can tell me, come on already! What could it be that you can't tell me about?"

"It's just… Well… Tomoyo," I said quietly. "She's this girl I really love, and she's from my own world, and I… I miss…her…" I couldn't go on, because my voice broke. I tried to hold back tears, which I had become very good at. I probably hadn't cried since my parents died, and if I had, Tomoyo had been the only person around. "I know it sounds wimpy, but really… well, anyway, I wanted to ask Fai about it." I didn't plan on telling Kaida any more of my life. She didn't need to know it.

"Oh, that's fine," she said. "He went to get us some water; he should be back in a few minutes. You can wait here for a second." She patted the side of her bed to indicate for me to sit there.

I walked across the room to sit next to her, and as I did, forgot that her room was very messy. In the process, I tripped on something that was lying around, and ended up knocking her onto the bed, with myself on top of her. I blushed crimson, and so did she. And as if that wasn't awkward enough, a very horrified Fai was standing in the doorway. But both Kaida and I took no notice of him. When I looked up, he had shut the door quietly and was gone.

**Originally when I wrote this, Kuro was like the most OOC thing in the universe! Although he gets that treatment a lot in Kuro/Fai fanfictions, doesn't he? I don't think he would tell Kaida he misses Tomoyo. But I had to do it. Love triangle! Poor Fai! **


	7. Chapter 7: Downhearted

**Chapter Seven**

**Downhearted**

**This is in Fai's point of view. He's a little depressed because he thinks Kurogane is being an evil girlfriend-stealer. But I don't really know how that works, because Kaida is not Fai's girlfriend. Yet. **

Would it sound too girly to say that I ran into my room, fell onto my bed, and cried after I saw that? Well, not that I care, because that happens to be exactly what I did. I couldn't believe that Kurogane was actually… well… I had just walked into Kaida's room and found him on top of her on the bed! What do you expect me to think?

"Why in the world am I crying?" I asked myself. How many times had I said that I wouldn't get involved with liking her? I sat up, and wiped tears off my cheeks, trying to put on that happy mask I so cherished. But it didn't work. I just fell back onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. I pushed my bangs out of my eyes and sighed heavily. I was still unsure of exactly how all this had happened, but whatever it was, it was painful. Very painful.

Someone knocked on the door. I hoped with all my heart that it wasn't Kurogane. "Fai? Are you in there?" Kaida asked. I clenched the blanket on the bed in my fist. What did I tell her?

"Yeah," I replied, trying my hardest to keep my voice steady.

"Are you okay? You sound… off," she said.

"I'm fine!" I called, filling my voice with mock cheerfulness. "Just give me a minute, I'll be right out."

I couldn't tell her what I had seen. What if she actually did like Kurogane? I wasn't sure if they were together or if one of them liked the other and wasn't telling me, or… It was just too confusing for me to figure out. I stood and glanced at the mirror to make sure my eyes weren't too red. They weren't, so I opened the door.

"There you are!" Kaida chirped happily when I did. I smiled in return, but it was entirely faked. "I just wanted to know if you were ready for dinner. Miki just finished cooking it."

I just shook my head. "I'm not hungry."

She left, looking a little confused and unhappy. As I closed the door, I saw her give me one last worried glance over her shoulder. And I fell back on the bed again, tears staining my cheeks after about five seconds.

About an hour later, I stood up, finally emotionally stable enough to face everyone else in the world. Just as I did, the door slammed open and Kurogane walked inside. "What the heck is wrong with you?" he asked, hitting me in the head as he passed me. I fell back onto the bed with the force of his blow. Whatever was wrong with me, he wasn't helping things much.

"What are you talking about?" I muttered, rubbing my forehead where Kurogane had slapped me.

"Kaida looked totally depressed at dinner. What did you do?" he asked, sitting on his bed and glaring at me. I rolled over onto my stomach and glared back.

"As if you have the right to talk!" I snapped. He looked startled for an instant.

"Huh?" he said, dumbfounded.

"You're always messing with people," I said lamely, coming up with an excuse to make it seem like I hadn't seen him and Kaida earlier that day.

"Listen, Fai, I don't know what your problem is, but… Never mind. I don't want to talk about it if you're in that kind of mood," Kurogane said angrily, and then left the room to take a shower. If only he knew.

**Much drama, huh? Yeah, Fai's getting pretty sad about this whole deal… But when will he figure out that it wasn't at all what it looked like? Next chapter, probably!**


	8. Chapter 8: Confrontation

**Chapter Eight**

**Confrontation**

**MUAHAHA! The angst continues! Or does this count as angst? More like confusing-ness. Fai just walked in at the wrong moment… Well, this is all gonna get sorted out soon. Fai's POV.**

Within the following day, I almost mentioned the scene I'd had the displeasure to witness between Kurogane and Kaida a total of eight times. But every time I opened my mouth to yell at Kurogane about it, I realized that he didn't know I had seen it. And then I closed my mouth, feeling a little like I looked similar to a fish. Which would be kind of strange.

I hadn't spoken to Kaida in quite a while, so I was surprised when she walked into my room all of a sudden. Then again, I was also surprised because I didn't see or hear her as she did. For someone who was so klutzy, she could move as quietly as a ninja sometimes. I didn't notice her presence until she sat down on my bed right behind me. "Hey," she said quietly. "You've been practically silent these days."

"Have I?" I asked. I didn't even have the strength to plaster on that mask of a smile that I still wore on occasion.

"Yeah," she said. "I missed the flirty, cute side of you."

"Sorry," I said, but I didn't really mean it.

"So what's wrong?" she asked, inching closer to me. I turned away from her. There was nothing that I wanted more than just to tell her what I had seen and I didn't even care if she knew. And so I figured that I should. I mean, if she or Kurogane had thought that no one would see, they had just underestimated me. It was their fault.

"I saw… you and Kurogane… were you...?" I couldn't even finish my question. She turned bright red as I mentioned it, and for a fleeting second, I thought I was correct.

"No!" she almost shouted. "No way! You've got it all wrong! Entirely!"

I arched one of my eyebrows. "That was sure what it looked like," I said. She shook her head.

"You know how messy my room is! He tripped over something and kind of… fell over… in a very awkward position," she said, her cheeks turning redder and redder by the second.

My mind clicked and my heart soared. He tripped? He _tripped_? So Kurogane was not out to romance my crush, and Kaida was not falling for my best friend! (A/N: And also, apparently, Kurogane can have klutzy moments too.) And at that moment, I felt happier than I had in a long time. It seemed as though everything would turn out right.

I hugged Kaida tightly. I could feel her tense the very instant I touched her, but I kept hugging her anyway. And as I buried my face in her brown hair, I could feel her muscles relax a little. Then she hugged me back. "Great to have you normal again, Fai," she sighed. I could barely hear her, because her face was pressed against my shoulder.

"Great to _be _normal, come to think of it," I replied.

"So, has your life been sorted out yet?" Kurogane asked. I looked up and released Kaida, to find him standing near the door.

"Eavesdropper!" I shouted accusingly, and stood, dashing over to hug him also. "Sorry I was so mad at you lately," I said quietly.

"Fai…" he said.

"Hm?"

"GET OFF!" Kurogane roared, and I darted backwards, tripped over my own foot, and fell onto the bed again, laughing maniacally. Kaida giggled, and even Kurogane smirked a little. I sighed happily and closed my eyes.

"I love it here."

**And so it is all sorted out! Phew! I've had a request to actually mention Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona in this fanfic, so I will! (SPOILER ALERT) Since after the series, Syaoran, Kurogane, and Fai start off on another journey, Syaoran will be showing up soon. (END SPOILERS) So where has Syaoran been the entire time? He's staying with a man who works for a historical society, trying to figure something history-like out again. However, this man only had enough room in his house for one other person, so he suggested that Fai and Kuro stay with Kaida. **


	9. Chapter 9: Gone

**Chapter Nine**

**Gone**

**Fai's POV**

"Fai! Kurogane! Are you in there?" Miki called, knocking on the door to our room. I groaned.

"It's too early…" I muttered.

"MAGE! Answer the door already! I'm in the shower!" Kurogane shouted at me. I opened my eyes and blinked in the sunlight, then stood, trying my hardest to get my sleepy body to the door.

"Yes?" I asked, opening it to reveal Miki standing there with a familiar teenage boy at her side. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "Syaoran?"

"Oh, so you do know him," Miki said.

"Uh-huh," I said, and nodded. "C'mon in, Syao." The boy followed me into the room and I rapped my knuckles on the door to the bathroom. "Kuro-tan! Come out!"

"Way ahead of you," Kurogane said, as he opened the door and walked out, completely dressed and ready for the day. He really was way ahead of me. I was still just wearing a pair of sweatpants, and had the slight feeling that my hair was sticking up in numerous places.

"Hello, Kurogane," Syaoran said.

"Hey, kid," Kurogane acknowledged him. "What's up?"

"Well, I found out all I could from that historian," Syaoran explained. "So we can leave this world now." I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach.

"Leave?" I asked.

"Of course!" Syaoran replied. My smile slid from my face. Leaving this place behind was possibly the last thing I wanted to do.

"Now?"

I looked from Syaoran to Kurogane apprehensively, hoping that they would say otherwise. More like wishing with all of my heart that they would say otherwise.

"Now is good," Kurogane said.

"Yeah, as soon as you get dressed and everything, Fai," Syaoran said.

I bit my lip to keep myself from tears. "Okay."

Five minutes later, the three of us were completely prepared to leave. Or so it seemed. Actually, I felt completely unprepared to leave this place behind. My only hope was that we would be able to return someday. If I didn't believe that, something told me I would be more depressed than I had ever been in my entire life. I just told myself that someday I would find Kaida again, no matter how much magic it took. I would give up everything I had just to be with her forever.

"Are you ready?" Syaoran asked me.

"Just a minute, I'll be right back," I said. I ran out the door and shut it behind me, leaving Syaoran standing there bewilderedly. I couldn't leave without telling her. There was no way that I would be so cruel. Sure, I was a bad person in general, but to not tell the girl I loved more than anything else in the world that I had to leave her… That was just a simply wretched thing to do.

Kaida was still asleep. She liked to sleep late, apparently. I did not want to wake her up only to tell her something sad, so I took a piece of paper out of one of her notebooks and bid goodbye to her, perhaps forever, in a letter. It seemed the kindest thing to do. Before I left, I took one last forlorn look at her sleeping form, and then leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Goodbye, Kaida," I whispered. "I love you."

**Kaida's POV**

I opened my eyes and glanced at the clock on my nightstand. I slept late again, apparently. I sat up and stretched, yawning a little. I couldn't wait to tell Fai about the weird dream I'd had last night. He was in it, and we were going ice skating in the middle of the summer! I loved ice skating, but the dream still made no sense whatsoever. I dressed quickly and left my room. The house was strangely quiet. With Kurogane and Fai around, there was a considerably higher amount of noise, so I was surprised. Perhaps Fai was still asleep or something.

"Miki! Where's Fai?" I asked, as I walked into the living room to find her sitting on the couch, reading.

"He said he, Kurogane, and one of their other friends were leaving. They went to a different world or something. He is a wizard, after all," she said without looking up from her book.

"Is he going to be back?" I asked worriedly.

"Probably not," she said. "He left this for you, though." She held up a letter, written on paper from one of my notebooks. I snatched it out of her hand and opened it. Probably not? What kind of answer was that? What an insensitive older sister!

_Kaida. I regret to say that I will be leaving this world. There's a possibility that I will return soon, but it is not a high one. It doesn't matter how long I am gone, though, I am coming back for you. I can promise you that. I will do anything within my power to return to you. I'll love you forever. Fai._

I retreated to my room and cried until I had no tears left. Life without Fai would be like life without breathing.


	10. Chapter 10: Ice

**Chapter Ten**

**Ice**

**Kaida's POV. I will say no more.**

Of course, living without Fai was possibly the worst year and a half of my life. I ended up leaving the college I was attending and living at home with Miki, and now, Haruki. They had gotten married the previous spring, only making my life more miserable. It wasn't too encouraging seeing them so happy with each other while the one person I was that happy with was gone who-knows-where in another dimension. I sort of withdrew from the world and sheltered myself with the only strand of hope I had to hold on to: he said he would come back.

I might have to wait a hundred years, or even a thousand, but he would find a way to come back. And I was prepared to wait that long for him. As I turned nineteen and then neared twenty, I realized I was no longer aging. My body wasn't any different than it had been when I was eighteen. It was as though the one moment I felt that my curse was perfect as it was, it set into place. I hadn't grown an inch since the summer I had met him. I felt like my body had frozen in its place when he left.

It was winter now, a week before Christmas, and I was headed home after a long day of ice skating with Kayne and some of her other friends. I walked through the town square, watching all of the couples arm in arm with each other as they made their way through the gently falling snow. They didn't care if it was freezing cold outside, because they had each other to keep them warm. My only warmth came from the memory of when it had been summer here and I was dripping wet because I had fallen into the pond and been rescued by the one person who took up most of my thoughts.

Not paying attention to where I was going, I slipped on a patch of ice that had frozen into the cracks between the bricks of the road and fell backwards. I gasped as my back connected with someone's body and a pair of arms reached out to steady me. I wasn't sure who had caught me, but there was some familiar calm about the feeling that almost made me want to stay in their arms. But that would be forward and invasive, so I stood and stared at my feet, not looking at my rescuer's face.

"I'm so sorry! And… um… thank you," I said.

"You don't need to thank me," they replied. My eyes widened and I started thinking a mile a minute. The voice. It was the most recognizable voice I had ever heard. It was Fai's voice. I looked up, meeting the pair of bright blue eyes as I did. He smiled, and I felt his hands reach out to caress my face. I pulled away, and stared in the opposite direction sourly.

"I'm dreaming again, right?" I said, with a hollow laugh. And then, he started laughing too, the light from the nearby streetlamps dancing in his eyes and reflecting off of tears that were filling them. Eventually, his laughter broke off and he shook his head in wonder. He was looking at his feet, and I could no longer see his eyes through his copious blonde bangs.

"No, you're not dreaming," he said quietly. "Because if you were, I'd be dreaming too, and I sure as heck don't want to be." His voice was almost shaking with emotion, and one of his gloved hands was fiddling with the hem of the scarf he was wearing. He looked back up. "Kaida… it's me," he said as a tear slid over his eyelid and down his cheek.

My eyes filled with worry as I looked at him. "Fai, why are you crying? Is it because of what I said?" I asked concernedly. He took my hand in his and then pulled me close to his chest in an embrace.

"No," he whispered, "it's because I'm happier than I've been in a long time."

**Kurogane's POV**

Trust that stupid wizard to go off and disappear on me again. Only Fai. Ugh, the moron. He ran off into the town because he said something about déjà vu and left me standing there without a clue as to what he meant. Déjà vu? Seriously? What the heck was he talking about? Although, I never really know what he's talking about, nor does anybody else. If anyone did, I seriously would like to meet them and ask them how drunk they were.

Because Syaoran would probably be mad if I lost Fai, I ran off into town after him with the kid trailing behind. Honestly, couldn't he run any faster? Oh well, the mage couldn't have gotten too far away before he was distracted by something shiny and stood there looking at it for five whole minutes or something. I swear, shiny things were invented to distract the stupid wizard.

The place was some sort of town, and it was freaking cold there, too. I hated the cold already, the wizard being lost only irritated me any more. It was a good thing Mokona wasn't around, or I would have speared it on my sword. I was mad. Mad enough to kill a fluffy bunny-like creature, although it doesn't take much to get me that mad. Anyway, the town was full of people crowding around, which did not help my search for Fai. They were all wearing winter clothes, most of which were just like the outfits our group had picked up at some store on the way in, making it even harder for me to find Fai.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was familiar about this town. The buildings looked the same as… well, _somewhere_ I'd been before… I just wasn't quite sure where. Okay, maybe the idiot had been right about the whole déjà vu thing. When I got the feeling I wouldn't be able to find Fai soon, I stopped for a moment to let the kid catch up to me. After he did, we paused and looked around. Syaoran was worn out from all the running, but it didn't take long for him to notice the same thing that I had.

"Hey, have we been here before?" he asked.

"Dunno… But I get the feeling we have," I replied.

"Maybe that's why Fai ran off," Syaoran pointed out. "If he saw someone he knew, or…"

I felt as though a lightbulb had gone off over my head. I knew where we were now. "I've got it!" I said. "We're here!"

"Where's here?" Syaoran asked.

"The place that idiot's been wanting to come back to for a whole freaking year! He hasn't shut up about it, how did you miss it?" I asked.

"Oh… that place… where I stayed with that professor?" Syaoran asked. The kid was so slow. The professor had nothing to do with it. I knew where Fai was now. He would be at Kaida's house.

However, as per the usual (when it comes to the mage, that is) I was wrong. On the way to the mansion where Kaida and her sister lived, I ran past some guy and a girl he was talking to. Not that it mattered. Until they yelled at me. "Ah! Kuro-pon, where are you off to?"

I halted. The idiot. I turned around, and couldn't find it in myself to yell at him when he looked so happy. And this time he really was happy. It wasn't one of those stupid fake smiles Fai usually put on, and had been putting on for the past year. "So that's where you went," I said to him. Then, I realized that the girl was Kaida. "Hey," was all I said to her.

"Who's that?" Syaoran asked, obviously meaning Kaida (unless the kid had decided to get amnesia like his beloved princess did).

"That's the mage's girlfriend," I said, which made Fai laugh and Kaida blush. And Syaoran simply looked like he didn't want to ask and he wasn't entirely sure how Fai had ended up with a girlfriend since we were only in this world for like five minutes so far.

"I met her last time we were here," Fai explained. "The house me and Kuro-chu lived in was hers." Syaoran frowned, puzzled.

"I don't remember her being there when I came to get you guys," he said.

"You probably met my sister," Kaida sighed. "Speaking of, she's going to be wondering where I am. Let's all go back to my house, there's plenty of room for all of you there. I'm sure Miki and Haruki wouldn't mind." She smirked as she said this, and began walking in the direction of her house.

"Happy now?" I asked Fai.

"Ecstatic," he replied, with his widest grin yet. I swear, that man is the freaking Cheshire cat.

**The End**

**And that's a wrap! Thanks for the amazing reviews and encouragement everyone! This was such a fun fanfic to write and I hope to see you all again! Kaida will (of course) appear in some of my other work, including a new fanfic I'm working on entitled "Some Years Into the Future". Please look for it! **


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